Craving Spring

This is the time of year everyone seems to be craving spring even though it can be some of the most winter weather. Maybe that's why or maybe we're all just looking for some longer days... Here are a few wines to put a little sunshine in your life. (yes I realize you are now hearing the you are the sunshine of my life in your head...)

Produttori 2003 Barbaresco
Imagine spring flowers and baby lamb running around pastures. Now imagine that baby lamb roasted and surrounded by roasted garlic with rose petal essence. 2003 a hot year in Piedmont limited this wine to the more value-oriented tan label vineyards blend. Mores the better for us! It is sanguine red in the glass, yet still bright and clear enough to see through slightly, with a brickish and rose hue. The ruddy colors are further carried in the smell… Pungent red cherry, both dried and fresh red rose petals, tar and cola, all leap out and are apparent. There are some other dark scents that are somewhat masked by the perfume, tar, and cola; that I could not quite identify – potentially some clay earth and marrow. The flavors also mirrored the scents and this isn’t what I would qualify as a thinkers wine, but hold your doubts, bare your canines and tear in. Very red cherries, rose perfume and incense, tar and cola, marrow, and with a dusty dry red brick clay finish. While this maybe not a thinker’s wine; it is a good wine, and wolfishly I drank plenty. Definitely food friendly, it is grippy with its tannins, and it paired very well with the garlic and medium rare lamb with blood orange and potatoes with fennel it accompanied. It has a slight thickness to the mouth-feel and daring nature to it with the way it will grab your tongue if drank without food. Its felt to me as if a reduction of flavors, to concentrate them with a tannic and alcoholic lift or kick. Still its not the largest, neither most auspicious, nor most refined Barbaresco… however, a very good profile and value at its price. Still some floats around as well but it wont last long as the 04’s and 05’s are now available as well. Find your inner carnivore, let out a howl while pouring Produttori ’03, and feast. En Boca Lupo!
Flavor Profile: 4/5
Value Profile 4.5/5 ($26-28 for a Barbaresco – that should put a spring in your step)

2007 Coteaux d'Aix en Provence Rosé, Commanderie de la Bargemone
I keep saying it; I’ll drink a rosé year round and there definitely is spring and summer encapsulated in many of these wines. This fine rosé hits that mark. Full of fresh green growth and new fruit, it seemed very much a warm spring wind out of some dry grassy gorge or off a farming plain. It’s from the Provence area of France and reflects the color of rosé I expect from there; coppery amber with a carnation pink hue. It has a scent I can only think of as dust and minerally chalk covered strawberries and raspberries, with a somehow contradictory bright clean lift at the end. It was a relaxing quaff of spring in the mouth… It reminded me of chewing on new green herbs and sweet grass, and then it transitioned to pure strawberry essence. That was of interest to me noting the palate transition from dry to off-dry as it progressed. The finish was dusty but lacked some acid to make this a truly great rosé of Provence. Lightly austere and different than some rosé you may be accustomed to; a good wine that is the dew on sweet grass with the scent and flavor of wild strawberry and its flowers. It should dully impress both rosé drinkers and those less familiar alike, especially paired with light seafood or grilled fare.
Flavor Profile: 4/5
Value Profile 4.5/5 ($12-14 is what you should find this for)

NV Drappier Champagne Carte d’Or
Have you had those foil wrapped chocolate in the shape of an orange you whack to split and eat? Well whack away with this champagne! Yellow and gold on the label I can imagine unwrapping this champagne whack-an-orange. Bright brittle golden yellow in color, it smelled of yeast, challah, and hazelnuts; it appeared very dry and bracing in the smell and you might expect very little fruit. However once in the mouth, wow, not at all what was expected. Bright citrus blends changing to orange coated in chocolate or cacao dust. Yes very much like the whack-an-orange chocolates but with a oval mouth-feel that rounded with hazelnut and other warm nut-butter-creamy-goodness finishing with a dry light tightly curled acid. Yes my dash description was a run on but I find myself wanting to run on and on about this wonderfully smooth sparkler. Orange, chocolate and nuts - No chocolate orange ever tasted so good. Did I say yum yet?
Flavor Profile: 4.5/5
Value Profile 4.5/5 (around $30/bottle)

Happy 150th Oregon!

Happy Birthday Oregon! If you missed it, Oregon’s 150th Birthday was February 14. And you though you only had to say I love you to your significant other! Well I do love Oregon and on the 14th I took a trip out to the Dundee area for a wine field trip. Myself, and my friends Paul and Brianne, had a list of places we wanted to go. As well as a more realistic list of what we might be able to make in time allotted. While we were able to taste many wines, and I recommend you jump in the car and make a field trip of your own, here are three highlights of the trip in my mind.

2000 J.K. Carrier Willamette Valley Pinot Noir – This was a very pretty wine and a great way to kick off our day. It was cherries and slightly sweet aromatics in the nose, and the color was a beautiful rose red. It had a solid length and medium mouth-feel I expect of Pinot Noir albeit not as silky as some wines we had latter in the day. What seemed to make us most happy however was the taste. Certainly ripe red/black cherry from the tree, and a semi-sweet herbaceous flavor that we guessed at anything from thyme to just about every herb in the garden. I do not know that we ever got it right but thyme or marjoram was probably closest. Unfortunately for the public this is a library wine that was being tasted only and not sold. So why even mention it? The Vintner mentioned 2000 was a cool year with some rains and since 2007 was similar, I am hoping that perhaps the current upcoming release may find similarities. If so, it could be quite good.
Flavor Profile: 4/5
Value Profile: 0/5 as unavailable

1999 Bernard Machado Pinot Noir – This wine is produced by Walnut City Wineworks and has only seen three vintages in the last 10 years with the 1999 being the first vintage. We tried this side by side with the 2005 vintage. While ’05 has some nice characteristics and a bit more intensity to its scents I found the ’99 overall more to my liking. It’s a dark garnet color with red/rose floral hue and the nose as well starts off with cherries, raspberry, and some sort of flower that was thought perhaps green, just blooming, violet. As the glass opened, I found rose and other flora scents. It’s a very perfumed nose but with a little musk (Elemi?) and dirt hanging around in the background that take quite a bit longer to appear. On the palate, this wine also had some difficult to determine but pleasant qualities. While it shows its age in its length and mouth-feel it still has plenty to give. There is an ample amount of tart red fruit such as tart cherries and black raspberry, maybe even cranberry, with dusty cardamom and off dry incense middle to a nicely dry even finish. I think I will try this wine with a porcini pork loin to match the earth notes, and show off the fruit and floral notes. And while I think I enjoyed this wine more than my companions… that is one of the wonderful things about wine. I think they are nearly out of this vintage so if it sounds interesting you should look them up soon.
Flavor Profile: 4/5
Value Profile: 4/5 (around $35/bottle – a great value for a 1999)

2000 Domain Drouhin Laurene Pinot Noir – The best tasting note of the day was not actually from me but I had to put it here – Jesus! (Nothing more was written.) I think of DDO’s wines as close to Burgundy as some may get in Oregon perhaps only lacking the stony finish of French earth. It was a deep garnet red in color, dark as sanguine red but still clear enough to read through and it smelled of rustic cherries, with dirt around the edges plus underlying dark floral tones… DDO also perhaps has the most seductive mouth-feel of any Oregon Pinot I have had and the 2000 was like sliding across the smoothest well-woven red silk. Its tastes were of red cherries long and lean, bright acid, and off dry fruit such as a cranberry or gooseberry as well. The finish was dirty, loamy, with clay wrapped around pockets of pumice. It was incredibly even and smooth on the palate and on its mouth-feel. Simply put this was the best wine of the day and the best profile I can honestly give it is “Yum”. I knew it was a great wine because while I would hurry through the first tastes to get more; but as I emptied the glass, I went slower and slower to preserve what I had. The part that may hurt most of us is the cost; at $100 per bottle, I hope you have a special occasion to purchase this wine or just the disposable income to do so. I am very hopeful as well with DDO that the 2007 Laurene may reflect very similar nuances to the 2000 but without the cost upon its impending release. This is what Oregon Pinot Noir can be and oh my, Jesus…
Flavor Profile: 4.5/5
Value Profile: 2.75/5 ($100+/bottle - this just seems a lot to me with the very good 2005 for a bit over 1/2 as much)

You don't mess with the Hoff, you just idolize...

There it was tuning into local radio on the drive home… "You don’t mess with the Hoff, you just idolize. The only man (David Hasselhoff of Night Rider and Bay Watch fame) to be able to pull off a look of a speedo and a leather jacket.” The radio jockey declared.

While I am not thinking I agree, I may have found his equivalent…

St. Urbans-Hof Qba Riesling 2007 – Black label with gold highlights, slender green bottle… could this be the man or wine in the leather and speedo?
Lightly straw yellow (surfer’s tan?) highlights with a pale green hue the UrbansHof (the Hof) was actually a bit disappointing upon opening. The smell was there – lemon curd or baked lemon tart with just a hint of sweet pastry crust at the end. But I found there was effervescence that I thought distracting at first taste. So I had a little and put it away for a while. On the second try… there were the chiseled features that made guys want to be him and enough sweetness for the women to swoon. Lemon Bar in the scent with hints of other confectionary and powdered sugar to a baked crumble smell at the back end. Tasting, it was lemon curd, or that lemon bar flavor, to lemon sherbet that coated the teeth and tongue as it moved to the morning ruby grapefruit with a touch of sugar sprinkled on top. It rounded back out with lemon Italian soda taste that finished with a pieces of dry ground slate. There was a wonderful acid length throughout that coated and holds the flavors together.

If you try this wine I’d open and taste straight away to see if the fizz is there… if distracting/detracting as I found it, leave it open for a while and come back to it. I wondered at first why this wine was so recommended but after my second, third, and so on tastes... So whether you like the wine or the man, this does live up to the name; but which came first the Hof or the Hoff? It doesn’t really matter as long as you remember with

orYou don’t mess with the Hoff, you just idolize…
Flavor Profile: 3/5 at first 4/5 later
Value Profile 4/5 ($15)

Comfortably Pinot

When I find Pinot Noir I really like its total comfort. It’s a gourmet Mac and Cheese (gruyere and white cheddar if you please) with panko crumbs and pancetta. Full, tasty, layered, but also its my fleece lined Romeo slippers. I’ve been really fortunate over the last month to have some amazing wine of many varietals… Still I wanted to share some good Pinot Noir and what I think are at great value.

2001 Medici East Block Pinot Noir – I blogged about this before and its still one of my happy points. (prior post - Pin-oooh Noir) Lately the ’01 Medici is going through a smellier phase with earthy funk more notable than even when I first had it. So if you need I would just let it open for a good 30 min or so to blow off a bit if at first it doesn’t appeal to you. That said many don’t and are very happy… What I really like about the Medici East Block is that its primary characteristics are forest and soil with the secondary being fruit. That is contrary to what is commonly being produced by some. I don’t think I can improve on my prior notes but I will say that the nose has even more black truffle and dark earth followed by a bit of bittersweet dark chocolate coffee and cola, then to long needle pine and finally red fruit and dust. The flavors mirror the nose and have distinctive layers as they traverse the palate. It’s a far reaching and lightly grippy pinot that I have taken to more than one occasion to shock and then awe the imbibers. This pinot has an officer’s crease and snap so stand at attention while you drink soldier and G.I up in a comfortable pair of old leathery combat boots.
Flavor Profile: 3.5 /5
Value: 4 /5 ($26-30 in most stores)

2002 Medici East Block Pinot Noir – I was lucky enough to try the two Medici side by side. And while they have similarities they are not even close to the same wine. The ’02 is much a more even handed feminine temptress. The color is amazingly similar as the sister to the above brother reflects the same heritage. As well the smell is of forest fir first and then fruit. Yet the '02 has evergreen pine and noble fir to her with a bit of cola and bright red cherry in the scents. On the palate it is more seductive and smooth bodied, not as muscular or angular. Light valley pine oil is followed by fire engine red ripe cherries that finish with a pair of dusty hiking boots. She’ll likely be more popular than her brother; hello all American girl.
Flavor Profile 3.5/5
Value: 4/5 ($27-30 harder to find as the release is not actually slated till after the’01 is gone)

Clay Hill 2006 Pinot Noir [De Ponte Vineyards] (aka cherry vanilla coke) – You want the Mac and Cheese of Pinot? You want a great value that has the characteristics of Oregon fruit but without having to read or write waxing poetic? You want to not have to describe the characteristics of forest, various red fruits, spices, and earth? And you just want to drink it with your homemade Mac and Cheese with panko and bacon; or with a burger or turkey burger. You got it... Clay Hill ’06 Pinot is maraschino cherry red with cherry vanilla cola in the nose. Drink it and its all cherries and the juice in the jar with maybe a bit of vanilla coke. Lightly grippy and cherry simply. Wash down your food with that and don’t give a moments thought, cause ya don’t have too. Possibly the soda pop of pinot.
Flavor Profile: 3/5
Value: 3/5 ($24/bottle – I would like to see this more in the 20 or under category, what’s $4? That’s $4 more towards Mac and Cheese my friends)